The Guardian has published two very interesting articles on how lax English councils, particularly Manchester, are in enforcing quotas for affordable housing. Not one of 15,000 new homes in central Manchester is classed as affordable.

Both articles cite Cardiff as a council that is far stricter with developers.

Other cities are far more strict with developers. In Cardiff, 24% of the homes granted planning approval in 2016 and 2017 met the affordable definition.

Leeds council routinely forces developers to include at least 5% affordable units in any large development. Some 2,011 affordable homes have been built in Leeds since 2012 – 510 of which were in the private sector, agreed as part of agreements with big developers.

Manchester’s rapid expansion can be credited to the council’s friendly relationship with the big developers it has been aggressively wooing over the past few years. Whereas some cities, like Cardiff and Newcastle, are strict with developers who want to put up big apartment blocks without including any affordable provision, Manchester has taken a more relaxed view.

What the articles don't mention is that there are actually very few residential developments planned for central Cardiff. Student towers, yes. Residential, no.

Obviously there's a balance to be struck here - one that Manchester has clearly got wrong but could Cardiff council's attitude be responsible for the lack of progress on schemes like Dumballs Road?

I think the point you make about Central Cardiff is an interesting one, particularly considering a fair percentage of people that would need affordable housing might be young people just getting onto the property ladder that don't have any family yet and might want to live closer to the city centre. Dumballs Road would be perfect for that.